Hush
by DW-chan
Summary: [KuraSen] Sometimes, you feel that you have no choice but to comfort a friend in need. But in truth, it's something that you've always wanted to do all along.


-HxH Disclaimer-

**_Hush _**  
By: DW-chan

_Everything's gonna be all right  
Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye  
Everything's gonna be all right  
Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye,  
Rock-a-bye._

- "Lullaby" sung by Shawn Mullins

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The stillness was a lullaby. With it was the sound of a blizzard raging outside, the sound of car wipers as it swept the storm from the glass, a gentle, rhythmic sound that calmed and soothed. Yet, the lullaby was elusive, as the car's occupants appeared far from the clutches of slumber. The chauffeur mattered little -- his compartment was separated by a thick layer of glass, and his attention can only be caught by using the tiny intercom that hung from the low cushioned ceiling. The intercom blinked with a tiny red light, so small it could have been a firefly that strayed, driven inside by the late December snowstorm. The man behind the wheel, moreover, was a mute and was contented with it as he drove without interruption, mustering enough concentration to conquer the blasting winds that dangerously fogged the windshield.

But peril seemed far away, as elusive as the lullaby. In the passengers' compartment sat two silent presences -- a young man and a young woman, both in contemplation. They sat opposite each other, and both were submerged in looking out the windows of his or her side. The young man was in his late teens; his face was gaunt, tired, and partly hidden in the shadows. His eyes were slits that threatened to droop, but they remained slits, and he seemed neither asleep nor awake. The young woman was about the same age, perhaps older, but still young, nonetheless. Her face was clear but her eyes were like pools of black. The otherworldly pallor of her skin was caused by the broken light that penetrated through the window, which was curtained by a sharp, shimmering haze of ice, forming a pattern against the glass, like stars or miniscule galaxies. She was wrapped in hues of pearly green and soft white.

They have crawled into their inner selves because of exhaustion. The day had been long and the night was far from young. In a few more hours it would be dawn; but December permitted no proper sunrise till the middle of the day. The wipers of the back window swished to the sound of their breathing.

Kurapica felt as if his whole left side was dead; half of his body was numb from the cold that remained after the ordeal, and the pain that throbbed inside his newly mended bones. Work in the Organization had become riskier as more and more fellow Hunters, hired by opposing Clans, engaged in reckless vendettas. But Kurapica bore his body's pain with submission. He could only think of how Senritsu must have felt when all her bones, all her insides, stretched and twisted and pulled when the counter-curse reclaimed her form before the Dark Sonata hit her. Since then, she always moved with a slight tremor of her lip as she contained the burning pain, and most of the time she would helplessly thrust her hand out so someone can come and aid her in her steps. There had been no tears, not once, not even when Kurapica found her half-dead as she lay there, physically restored, with the accursed remains of the Dark Sonata's first movement--the movement of the flute--scattered in an angrily crackling heap of dying flames beside her. Her voice was as gentle as ever even as she wore a mask of suffering. No, today's ordeal was nothing compared to what Senritsu had flung all will to overcome. He must not complain.

He wondered for a while if she had finally fallen asleep. It was still miles away from the Nostrad villa, and sleep -- sleep would be pleasant. Sleep would be a gift. But when the headlights of an incoming vehicle that took to the opposite direction on the other side of the road hit the windows and Senritsu's face was momentarily illuminated, he saw that she was as wide awake as he. Her face, though not as beautiful as he sometimes wondered it was, was calm.

No.

Senritsu was beautiful.

She was so beautiful. It racked Kurapica like a beat of lightning, or the final, roaring stages of an overture.

Since Senritsu had returned to her normal form, she had lost her ability of sharp hearing. There was always a catch, a price to pay, an exchange of goods, in one way or another. She was rather stricken by the sudden change that she had told him, once, in her quiet voice, that she would soon be as mute as she was now seemingly deaf. She tried to make it sound like a jest, but whether she intended to or not, she spoke sparingly just the same. It was strange. There were times that even as Senritsu stood but a mere foot away from him, he felt that he missed her sorely.

The dull, continual pain in his left side that paralyzed most of his arm was, at that moment, his greatest burden. Still, Kurapica persevered. Senritsu, being a Hunter, would divine his movements in a while even in her crippled state. And yet, he must not startle her. Inch by inch, pinprick by pinprick of pain, he pushed himself across the gap that lay between him and the young woman. To his slight surprise, she turned, a second too early than he had calculated, and with an impulse that she had grown accustomed to, she automatically reached out to support him in his efforts. Kurapica caught her hand at almost the same exact moment she held it out. Suddenly overcome by a wave of affection, he squeezed her hand, his strong, unchained fingers enveloping her tiny pale ones completely. He watched the slow progress of his fingers lacing around hers. Her hand was warm.

With one small tug on Senritsu's behalf, she completely bridged the gap in between. Kurapica felt the warmth of her body through her winter clothes. He felt her eyes burn at him, berating.

"You're hurting herself," she scolded him softly and yet with enough impact to send the young man sprawling in shame. _Shame?_

No shame. It's gone.

Kurapica wordlessly shook his head, his bright turquoise eyes unclouded by contact lenses suddenly softening. His right arm had not been as damaged as his left, and he swung it freely, but with measured tenderness, around Senritsu's smaller form. He found her other hand and with his right one, held it as well. She did not struggle; in fact, she seemed frozen, not completely understanding the gesture he had not administered to another living being since the ties between him and his family had been severed forever.

There was only the sound of breathing, and the howling of the wind outside, suddenly muffled, suddenly gone. And all was quiet.

The stillness was a lullaby. The young man and the young woman had finally fallen asleep.

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Oh glory be… redundant sappiness!  
IFdreamer, you rock! Now look what you've (indirectly) made me do… o.O;;;  
Well, that's that. I'm more of a Kurapica-Senritsu shipper... Haha. Hahahaha. Ha. Haha.  
Needless to say, work projects killed my fanfiction-writing life. Now I'm stuck in a puddle of ideas for one-shots. The larger-scale fanfics will have to wait a little longer. Worry not, I'm struggling.  
Chocolate éclairs are wonderful poison.  
Don't forget to drop a review! Have a nice one, all. :)


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